411 Box Office Report: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Soars To $71 Million Start, Morbius Craters

Sonic raced his way to new heights at the box office as Sonic The Hedgehog 2 claimed the top spot with a $71 million opening. The video game sequel marked an improvement on the first film’s $58 million opening in the month before the pandemic caused theaters to shut down in 2020. It’s the best opening for a video game adaptation, beating out the record held by the first film, and the best opening of Jim Carrey’s career (topping Bruce Almighty’s $68 million start in 2003).

Sonic 2 is hitting all the right benchmarks and promises to be a big hit, exceeding its pre-opening tracking of $50 million to $55 million. That’s thanks to a heady combo of decent reviews (a 67% average on aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes), an audience RT score of 97% and A CinemaScore, all lining up with first film’s numbers (63%, 93%, and A). Add in the fact that there hasn’t been a new family-targeted film in theaters since Sing 2 arrived in mid-December and Sonic 2 was primed for success.

This is all good news for Paramount, which has had a pretty great 2022 so far with hits out of Scream, The Lost City, Jackass Forever, and now this. Sonic 2 will run up against competition in short order; while it’s not family-targeted, the Harry Potter vibes of Fantastic Beasts 3 could draw viewers away next week and Universal’s The Bad Guys opens in just a couple of weeks. But Sonic 2 was not more expensive than its predecessor, with both films landing at a $90 million budget, and the higher start should lead it to very good numbers in its own right. The film has added $70 million overseas for a $141 million worldwide total, and it should be able to match the first film’s 2.52 multiple at least. That would give us a domestic total of around $175 million, which will be great for the studio’s coffers.

Last week’s #1 film in Morbius did not fare well in its sophomore frame – and I mean, really not well. The Sony production based on the Spider-Man character took in $10.2 million in its second weekend. That is a brutal 74% drop from the opening weekend, higher than the hefty drops for Venom: Let There Be Carnage (65% last year) and Suicide Squad (67% in 2016).

That hefty fall can be chalked up to the poor audience reaction (and thus word of mouth) that the film’s been receiving. As noted last week, the film had a C+ CinemaScore – okay if you’re talking horror, but awful for a superhero film. All that said, Morbius is not in dire shape at the moment as it’s grossed $57.1 million domestically and $126.4 million worldwide against its relatively low $75 million budget. It still has a ways to go in order to make a profit, but it should still be able to do so and domestically should finish out at around $75 million to $80 million.

The Lost City is continuing to perform well, as the romcom-adventure grossed $9.2 million (down just 38%). The Sandra Bullock & Channing Tatum film now stands at $68.9 million domestically and is still slowly rolling out overseas; its worldwide take is $78.6 million. The film is looking at around $85 million to $90 million stateside and should turn a profit against its $68 million budget.

While Sonic found success this weekend, Michael Bay did not as Ambulance started off low. The Bay-directed action film grossed $8.7 in its first weekend, missing its $12 million expectation by a fairly wide margin. That’s the lowest opening of Bay’s career, cruising under the previous low of $12.4 million set by The Island way back in 2005.

By all rights, Ambulance should have been a hit for Bay. The film stars two well-liked leads in Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and the film has garnered the best reviews of Bay’s career at a 69% RT aggregate score. (His previous high was The Rock at 68%). But audiences weren’t interested in this high-octane chase film.

This can’t be blamed on the marketing, as Universal reportedly spent $33 million on TV ads for the film not to mention other marketing efforts. Bay is simply a name that doesn’t bring as much excitement as it used to. That said, those that did see it enjoyed it; it ranks at an A- CinemaScore and an 87% RT audience score, so word of mouth could help this.

And to be clear, it will need the help. The film cost $40 million and as noted, the marketing was spendy. Bay’s most recent non-Transformers films had multiples of 2.46 (2013’s Pain & Gain) and 3.26 (2016’s 13 Hours). Ambulance seems likely to land between those, and a $25 million domestic final seems likely. It will need the overseas money to have a chance at profit and it’s doing okay there, with $22.5 million to start for a $31.2 million total. Will it make a profit? We’ll see.

The Batman was down 41% in its sixth weekend to $6.6 million. The DC superhero film is progressing quite nicely, now standing at $359.1 million domestically and $735.2 million worldwide. It is still looking at a potential final gross of $400 million domestically and $800 million worldwide, a smash against its $200 million production budget.

A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once went fairly wide this weekend and broke out, tallying an impressive $6.1 million from 1.250 theaters. The Michelle Yeoh-starring film is continuing to build on its critical acclaim (97% on RT) and positive word of mouth (94% audience score) and has reached $8.4 million domestically so far. The film was reportedly one of A24’s more expensive efforts with a $25 million budget, so it will need to continue to roll in the money (it has yet to open overseas), but it’s absolutely off to a great start. A $20 million domestic total is entirely possible.

Uncharted eased itself down just 28% in its eighth weekend, adding $2.7 million to its total. The Sony video game adaptation is now up to $143 million domestically and $383.5 million worldwide, a very nice hit for the studio against its $120 million budget. It is still aiming for as much as $150 million domestically by the end of its run.

Spider-Man: No Way Home spent its amazing 17th week in the top ten, as it was down 57% to $625,000. The MCU film is now the first film to spend 17 weeks in the top 10 since My Big Fat Greek Wedding all the way back in 2002. No Way Home has $803.8 million domestically and $1.892 billion worldwide, and has already hit digital release. The budget was $200 million.

Coming in at #9 was the rerelease of Selena for its 25th anniversary. The Jennifer Lopez-starring biopic of the slain Tejano singer brought in $402,280; it returned to theaters on Thursday. Its total domestic gross including the original run is $35.3 million.

Making its return to the top 10 was Sing 2 despite a 75% drop, as it brought in $220,000. The animated sequel has totaled $162.3 million domestically and $401.4 million worldwide, a big hit for Universal against its $85 million budget.

Next weekend will likely see a new #1 as Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore arrives. The film, which has already grossed $58 million overseas, should be able to gross around $50 million in its first weekend. Mark Wahlberg’s Father Stu opens on Wednesday and should target at $5 million weekend or so.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – $71 million ($71 million total, $141 million WW)
2. Morbius – $10.2 million ($57.1 million total, $126.4 million WW)
3. The Lost City – $9.2 million ($68.9 million total, $78.6 million WW)
4. Ambulance – $8.7 million ($8.7 million total, $31.2 million WW)
5. The Batman – $6.6 million ($355.1 million total, $735.2 million WW)
6. Everything Everywhere All At Once – $6.1 million ($8.4 million total, $8.4 million WW)
7. Uncharted – $3.6 million ($143 million total, $383.5 million WW)
8. Spider-Man: No Way Home – $625,000 ($803.8 million total, $1.892 billion WW)
9. Selena – $620,364 ($35.9 million total, $35.9 million WW)
10. Sing 2 – $220,000 ($162.3 million total, $401.4 million WW)